


Surprise!

by things_that_matter



Series: CMBYN: Life with Ollie [5]
Category: Call Me By Your Name (2017), Call Me By Your Name - All Media Types, Call Me by Your Name - André Aciman
Genre: Comfort, Discipline, Domestic Fluff, Family Feels, Intimacy, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-17 22:01:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28732377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/things_that_matter/pseuds/things_that_matter
Summary: Elio wants to plan a small surprise for Oliver, but it isn't as simple as it should be.
Relationships: Oliver/Elio Perlman
Series: CMBYN: Life with Ollie [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2094873
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	Surprise!

Elio rolled his eyes. "Ollie, please stop crying," he whispered impatiently. His facial expression and tone only combined to make Ollie cry harder. Elio put his finger up to his lips and shushed his brother urgently as he glanced around. When nothing seemed to quiet the child, he took Ollie's hand and led him down the hall and into his own bedroom closet, flipping on the light and closing the door. This was the farthest physical distance he could get from Oliver. To his great annoyance, Ollie began to cry even more loudly, and he knew that Oliver would be coming to check on them soon. He wouldn't be able to explain why he'd drug a bawling Ollie into their closet, and the entire surprise would be ruined. 

He tried desperately to keep the desperation out of his voice, which turned out to be even more difficult than it sounds. "Ollie, it's a _surprise_ ," he whispered. "That's not the same thing as a lie." 

Ollie shook his head, "Last week you punished me for telling a lie!" His voice was grumpy now. "And Oliver told me something is either the truth or lie and this is a..." Elio rolled his eyes again, even more dramatically, as Ollie took a shuddering breath and then finished his sentence, "... LIE." 

Elio was beyond frustrated. This is when he would normally enlist Oliver's help. Elio thought he himself was in many ways the more patient of them, but when Ollie couldn't be reasoned with, it was Oliver who was better at dealing with him. Of course, he couldn't turn to Oliver for help in making Ollie understand the concept of a surprise when Oliver was the target of said surprise. Elio crouched down, getting eye level with Ollie and setting his face to what he thought was a calm look. "Ollie, do you trust me?" he whispered with all the sincerity he could muster. 

Ollie was caught off guard by the question and momentarily paused in his crying. After thinking it over, he replied tearfully, "Kinda." 

Elio whispered indignantly in return, "Kinda?!" He knew that an adult should never be so offended by the opinion of an overtired seven-year-old, but he couldn't help it. Ollie, sensing Elio's further displeasure, poked his lip out and began to cry again.

"No, no, no, shhhhh," Elio whispered urgently. His mind drifted back to earlier in the afternoon when Oliver had wanted to make Ollie take a nap because he was tired and grumpy, but Elio had opposed the idea. In hindsight, he knew Oliver's instinct had been correct, as always. He couldn't help but feel annoyed by this realization. 

Elio sighed and plopped down onto the closet floor, crossing his legs. He pulled Ollie down into his lap and rocked lightly back forth in the motion that often calmed him when he was younger. To his relief, he found that it still worked, and Ollie soon began breathing normally, then heavily. When he tried again to talk to Ollie, he wasn't surprised to find that he’d fallen asleep. Elio sighed, carried him to his room, and placed him gently in bed. 

Next, he walked into the den, feeling exhausted himself, and dropped himself onto the sofa next to Oliver, who was busy grading essays. Without looking up from his grading, Oliver asked him, "Where's Ollie?" Elio could tell by his tone and the smug look on his face that Oliver knew exactly where Ollie was. Elio narrowed his eyes, but Oliver just leaned over and kissed him playfully on the side of the face. "What was he so upset about, anyway? I was going to come rescue you as soon as I finished these last three essays." 

Elio leaned his head back, resting it on the back of the sofa, looking up at the ceiling. "Nothing, he was just overtired like you said," he answered. Elio was willing to swallow his pride in order to maintain the surprise he had planned for Oliver. _That's love_ , he thought. 

Elio suddenly became aware of how close he was to Oliver. Though Oliver was focused on the paper he was evaluating, Elio began to feel the same familiar hum of attraction he always felt when he was so close to Oliver. He leaned into him even more, and stretched up enough to kiss his neck. Oliver smiled but kept his attention on the paper. Elio turned so that he was almost facing Oliver, continued kissing his neck, and slipped his hand under Oliver's shirt, sliding it up to his chest.  Oliver looked at him with a smile. 

"Ollie's asleep," Elio softly reminded. 

"I have two more to grade after this one," Oliver replied, and Elio could hear by his voice that Oliver was beginning to share in his desire. 

Still kissing Oliver's neck, he whispered very quietly, "Elio..." 

Oliver put the papers down on top of the already graded ones. He turned toward Elio and kissed him. "Oliver," he whispered in return. They looked into each other's eyes for a long moment before Elio suddenly jumped up and ran toward their room, with Oliver chasing behind him, laughing. 

Later, Elio laid awake in bed, watching Oliver sleep. Through the window, he could see that the sun was sinking lower in the sky, casting a soft pink glow on them, making their bed feel like an almost enchanted place. He could have watched Oliver sleep for hours, but he thought he should wake up Ollie, or he would not be able to sleep that night. And besides, he still had the task of trying to help Ollie understand what a surprise was. He wasn't looking forward to continuing that conversation, but he hoped that the nap would help. 

Careful not to wake Oliver, Elio crept out of bed and slid on the same clothes he'd been wearing before. When he reached Ollie's room, he was surprised to find him already awake. He was very glad, because this meant he might be able to sleep at bedtime. 

"You sure are being quiet," Elio said approvingly. "What are you doing?" he asked, going over to look. 

Ollie held out his notebook for Elio to look at, and Elio studied it for a bit. "Is this your homework?" he asked, unsure of what he was looking at. 

Ollie's brow suddenly furrowed. "No," he answered. 

Elio's next question was so obvious, it seemed to ask itself. "What is it?" 

"It's just fun math," Ollie answered. Elio had recently shown him how to identify right angles, so Ollie had traced the corner of an index card to draw right angles in his favorite notebook. Then he'd folded the card in half, diagonally, and traced that several times. "I think that is a 45 angle," Ollie said thoughtfully. 

Elio nodded. "Degree," he said. 

"What?" Ollie asked, suddenly confused. 

"A 45 _degree_ angle," he clarified. "And you're right. If you folded it perfectly, it will be a 45 degree angle," Elio explained, impressed. Ollie wouldn't learn this in school for at least two more years, and he'd been able to draw this conclusion on his own. Elio wondered to himself how a kid could be this smart, but still be unable to understand the concept of a surprise. 

While Ollie continued drawing random angles in his notebook and trying to estimate their measurement, Elio decided to try another approach, "So, Ollie, you know Oliver's birthday is next week, right?" 

Ollie nodded. 

"I thought we should do something fun together," Elio continued. 

Ollie tilted his head up from his notebook, a suspicious look on his face. "Kid fun or grown up fun?" he asked. 

"Both," Elio answered. 

Ollie nodded his agreement. 

"You know they are finally opening a new art museum, and they are opening it on his birthday, right?" Elio said. He paused after each new piece of information, so he could make sure that Ollie was absorbing it before he moved ahead. 

Ollie nodded. 

"Oliver loves art. They are going to have some sculptures that he will want to see. So, for his birthday, I thought we should go there, understand?" Elio asked. 

"Yeah," Ollie nodded. "But, why are you talking to me like I'm six years old?" 

Elio laughed, but simply continued ahead, "Well see, sometimes, things are more fun when you aren't expecting them. Like the day you got the chemistry set from Sonny and Cher. That was a surprise." 

Ollie's eyes began to narrow, dubious. "Yeah but Sonny and Cher didn't lie. They didn't say they were sending something else and then send a chemistry set. You said I have to tell Oliver we are going to the zoo and that. is. a. LIE." 

Elio tried to think of the simplest way to explain something that he thought was already a simple concept. "The difference is, with a lie, you are trying get away with something for your own benefit. For example, if you just don't want to do your homework so you say you don't have any. With a surprise, you are trying to do something nice for the other person, to make them happy. And, in the end, they find out the truth not because they find your homework stuffed in the bottom of your backpack, but because you tell them when you reveal the surprise." 

Ollie nodded a little, "Okay." 

"Okay?" Elio asked, relieved. "You understand?" 

"Yeah. Why didn't you just say that at the beginning?" Ollie asked. 

Elio didn't know how to respond. Eventually he simply said, "Okay then, so, we won't tell Oliver we are going to the art museum, right? We will tell him we are going to the zoo. He hates zoos, so he will be really happy when he sees the art museum." Elio said with finality. 

"Okay Elio," Ollie agreed. "But, art museums are not kid fun," he added, just so that Elio would know in the future.


End file.
